


you are whatever a sun will always sing

by candybeat



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 16:05:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3073910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candybeat/pseuds/candybeat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Hades Cabin, Nico and Will talk in the warmth of the setting sun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you are whatever a sun will always sing

Will touched his cheek, gentle and careful, “Hey, you always do that, you know?” 

“Do what?” Nico says, eyes averted, mumbling. Will’s hand was warm, like everything else about him seems to be. 

“That,” Will pointed out; his finger gesturing to Nico’s eyes, “You’ll look at me for a moment, then immediately look away.” 

“I don’t do that,” Nico turns immediately to look at Will, indignant, but once he found himself staring at Will’s eyes, he struggles to maintain eye contact. The urge to look away was strong, as is the beating of his heart. His cheeks felt warm. He wants to bury his face in his pillow. 

Will looked at him, really looked at him, his gaze moving from Nico’s eyes, to his nose, cheek, to his lips, lingering there far longer than it should, and then back again to Nico’s eyes. Nico wondered what he was searching for and if he found it. 

Nico bit his lip. The staring was making him anxious. “Wiiiiiill,” he whined. 

“What,” Will says, a slow smile forming on his lips.

“Stop staring at me.” 

“Okay,” Will says, averting his eyes, before looking back up again. 

“Will!”

That only makes him burst laughing, and Nico can’t help but smile. He runs his hand through his hair, “you’re ridiculous,” and proceeds to fiddle with the blanket on his bed instead. 

Will’s laughter dies down, “Seriously, di Angelo, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” 

“It’s just that you keep looking at me like that.” 

“Like what?” Will asks,“like I like you?”

Nico says nothing in response. He’s been talking to Hazel about this, this weird impasse-y thing between him and Will, where they both know they like each other, but aren’t doing anything about it, despite almost all of their friends pushing them both to just make a move already. 

“Despite what I’ve said previously, you’re not an idiot. You know it’s true. The whole camp knows that I like you. I’ve like you since I was thirteen at the Battle of Manhattan.” Will says this all like he’s listing off facts. 

“I knew you liked me, but thirteen?” Nico says, incredulously. He didn’t know that. 

“Yep,” Will says, pretending to look nostalgic, “You marching into battle with that army of zombies. I was a goner.” 

Nico kicks him in the leg, “You have such weird taste in boys.” 

“Excuse you, I have excellent taste in boys,” and he even ended that comment with a wink. Nico blushes; how on earth is this boy even real?

Nico finally collapses, to lie down on his bed, and Will follows him down. They’re lying side by side. Nico looks at Will Solace, the light giving him a warm orange glow, and figures that the sun is setting down. Nico’s back leans against the wall, where he’s sticking to the shadows. 

He feels like this strange impasse between them was going to be broken soon. If it was going to break, Nico would rather it break on his own terms, due to his own hands. And so, he puts into words the reason for the fluttering of skeleton butterflies in his stomach, the reddening of his cheeks, and the smiles on his face recently: “It’s probably obvious, but I like you too.” 

“I know,” Will says, simply. 

“But you never said anything about it,” And there’s the question that breaks the impasse between them. 

“Because I wanted you to bring it up. I wanted to hear you say it.” Oh, Nico thinks. Will was waiting for him. 

“Was it worth the wait?”

Will smiles sweetly, “And more,” because Nico was worth it.

“You make it so easy. You don’t get nervous out there where people can see us, you look at me and words come out of your mouth smoothly. It’s frustrating,” Nico can’t help but be annoyed and glare a little. Sometimes, it feels like it’s only Nico that’s struggling between them. 

Will snorts, “You should ask Lou Ellen then. God knows, she suffered a lot listening to me talk about you. I would get so flustered after talking to you. It wasn’t easy at all early on. You were so mean to me!” 

“If you’re talking about the battle with Gaea, I have an excuse. I was worried for your lives. I was worried for my life. Mother earth was trying to kill us.” Nico fights a grin and shrugs. 

“And after?” 

“I stayed in the infirmary for three days without complaint!” 

“That’s such a lie. You gave me so much sass.” 

“It was funny watching you get annoyed.” 

“Hmph. You can say what you want but I take healing seriously.” 

“I like that about you,” with that, the teasing nature of their conversation disappears and turns serious. 

Maybe it’s because of the setting sun. Maybe it’s because it’s only the two of them in the darkness of the Hades cabin. Something about the atmosphere makes Nico honest, makes him feel like he’s got nothing to hide. If anything, it’s the expression on Will’s face, reddening cheeks, enraptured eyes, that keeps him talking, “You being able to save lives, without having to hurt anybody else. The way all lives matter to you. I like that you keep the peace.”

“I,” Will starts, but for once it seems like he’s got nothing to say. 

Nico smiles at that and reaches forward to poke Will’s cheek, “You’re so headstrong when people are going against you, but the moment they start complimenting you, you turn bashful as if you can’t believe people find you special.” 

“But I’m not that special,” Will asserts, finding his voice, “I’m just a healer.”

“Even if you are just a healer,” and the unspoken you’re not is clear in his tone, “you’re the damn best healer we have.” 

With that, Will lets himself smile. His smile is so wide, and he’s closing his eyes, rubbing his face against the mattress to hide it. He’s blushing. “Heart palpitations. You are giving me heart palpitations.” 

Cute, Nico thinks. A surge of affection rushes through him and for once he doesn’t stop himself from touching Will. He pulls off the hand that’s covering Will’s face. “C’mere, you nerd.” 

Will squints his eyes at the word “nerd,” mouthing it, but moves to a sitting position to scoot closer. Nico moves to a sitting position as well. They’re close and sitting together in a way where their legs are crossed and their knees are touching. 

It’s quiet for a moment until Nico breaks it, “Will Solace,” his name rolling smoothly off his tongue. 

“Right here,” Will answers, as if he’s in a class room and the teacher is calling roll. 

Nico snorts, “Solace. I wonder if it was unintentional or Apollo went out of his way to create something poetic with you.” 

“What?”

“Did you know in latin, the word sol, in your last name, means the sun? Coincidentally, you are also the son of the Sun God Apollo,” Nico explains, “And then, the name Will itself means ‘desiring peace’ or ‘determined protector.’”

Will stared, waiting, wondering where Nico was going with this. 

“What I’m saying is,” Nico says, cradling Will’s face in his hands, “if you ever forget what your best points are, your name should be enough to remind you what they are.” 

“Nico,” Will whispers, licking his lips, “what are you doing?”

Nico leans closer, slowly, a little shy, and then presses his lips to Will’s cheek. It was a sweet press of soft lips against soft skin; everything was warm, and still warm even when Nico moved away. Nico kissed Will’s nose, his other cheek, his temple, forehead, back down to his jaw, and then to the corner of Will’s mouth. “I’m,” kiss, “kissing,” kiss, “you.”

Will moved his hands to still Nico and then leaned to finally, finally, kiss Nico on the lips. It was a slow kiss, mouths moving, cherishing the moment like they’ve got all the time in the world. They broke apart moments later; their foreheads leaning against each other. 

“We should probably head to dinner soon, huh?” Nico says, although he’s reluctant to let go of Will’s hands. Somewhere in between, their hands had intertwined. “Your siblings are probably looking for you.” 

Will groans, head falling to bury itself against the crook of Nico’s neck, “Can I hold your hand on the way there, at least?”

Nico squeezes his hand, “Only because you’re cute, Solace.” 

He can feel Will’s smile pressed against his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> h a h a, guess who read the entire pjo and boo series in a week so she can write fanfic about nico di angelo.
> 
> also, this takes place a while after boo. i feel with these two, you gotta let it simmer. make them work for that first kiss, ya know? also, there's enough fanfics dealing with nico's situation that i figured, here, have some will solace not thinking he's good enough for nico, or at least not thinking he's special at all.


End file.
